For this piece of analysis, we looked to see how closely in context the various party leaders were to a number of relevant key words (chosen by us) that were focussed on the issue of optimism for the future (words like reform, change, deliver). The higher the score, the closer in context the particular leader is to these words in the discussion forum. This means that a higher score indicates that the party leader is closer in context to optimistic views on them actually making a difference should they be elected.

Once again Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats come out on top, with a score well in advance of the other two parties. It is also noticeable, and not surprising, to see the Labour party score low in this analysis since they are the incumbent party and therefore the concept of 'reform' is a difficult message for a governing party to deliver. However it is rather surprising to see that the Conversatives have not scored higher than they have; again their score is above Labour but not impressively so when compared to the Liberals.

This analysis demonstrates how the words used by the public immediately after the debate can be analysed using a quantitative analysis of the public's opinion based on what they actually say.

We will continue this analysis over the coming days, by analysing online discussions on the three leaders, and therefore show how trends are forming in the days running up to the election.

Election Trends answers ongoing questions of: the publics popularity towards political parties and their leaders, the public perception of the character of the party leaders, and public confidence in the political parties. Election Trends presents ongoing daily election updates on existing topics, with special feature topics.

To discover more detail about the opinion of your target market, or more detail on these particular election topics and words. Please contact Jayne at Election Trends: